Captcha

I used to grit my teeth a bit whenever a Captcha box would pop-up.

Captcha, I thought, was just a way to prevent spam...prevent robotic programs from going into a website and generating messages over and over to sell a product or perhaps even to launch something malicious.

Mentally I used to think: Oh gee, stop being so paranoid...typing this thing in is wasting my time to prevent something that probably isn't going to ever happen anyway.

Then a co-worked sent out a link to TED that explained what Captcha was all about.

You see, more and more books are being scanned so they can be kept and read digitally, which is a really good thing since so many books are printed on acidic paper that turns into crumbs over time.

But...the scanning process has a flaw:  Sometimes the font or print scans in as a garbled word or a word that seems meaningless.

Humans could be hired to go back and visually see the word in question and then correct the scan but that would cost millions of dollars to do and take up a lot of time.

The guy on TED is the amazing creator of Captcha, a program which solves this problem.

Here is how it works. Basically you have Captcha to make sure you are human.

Re-Captcha shows you 2 words. One word is a word that they already know what it says.  It is the word that you are typing in to make sure you are human and not a robot, because you can  both type/read.

The 2nd word (or the first, they are in random order) is simply a scanned word from an actual book. It is not known exactly what this word is supposed to be but you might, and can take a guess.

You type in what you think your see and eventually enough people answer what they think  the "image" of a word actually is spelling out.

So in summary, when you type in the Captcha word, you enabling the scanning old books into digital formats for free.

Some facts:

500,000 hours a day are "wasted" on Captcha.

100 million words a day are turned into digital via Re-Captcha via you.

2.5 million books a year are scanned into digital via you.

The TED video, linked below, is so worth watching....it is just a few minutes long, and I can promise you will laugh as well as celebrate how books are being saved in less than a minute at time.
http://www.ted.com/talks/luis_von_ahn_massive_scale_online_collaboration.html


PS: If you have never explored the TED website before, you have been so missing out on great stuff!   Thinkers are brought to talk about ideas, all kinds of ideas, most of which are ideas that you never thought about before (like what is the purpose of play?)
Watching a single TED post can fuel conversation around the house and work place in a way that makes your brain feel alive! 

The whole Captcha thing...makes me feel like I am living in the future!
(Except I am  not...the photo above is a hallway that I go past every day at work, and sometimes walk when I need a break. Beam me up Scotty!)

When I need a less futuristic break, I go outside and take pictures of nature instead:

 

There isn't much to see around a parking lot in winter, but as usual, if one looks hard enough, there is always something to see.

Snow Day

You can tell just by looking exactly when the forced air heat comes on at our house.

Bitsy is a student of Birkrim, or hot, yoga.

She setttles in in front of the heater vent and practices all her yoga poses whenever the heat turns on.

(Frankly I am a little jealous that I am not small enough to get a full body blast of heat like she does in front of the vent).

Can you tell she is getting toasty?
Just look at those glowing eyes...

Eyes that glow so brightly they reflect on the hardwood floor.

A tad spooky, no?

I just let her be, all melted and warm from her nose to the tip of her tail.

Tate, being a Faithful Orange Cat, is not lazying around.
Oh no...he has some snoopervising to do!

Tate:  He didn't do a very good job on the sidewalk....

Having a good snoopervisor means all jobs around here get done right in the end.

Meanwhile, I get back to my quest to photograph snowflakes perfectly.
The slightest motion, like manually clicking the shutter, blurs the shot.

I pulled out my new tripod, and fussed with all the adjustments to get the thing down to the perfect snowflake level (all the while hoping the flake wouldn't melt away) and then used my timer  feature to take this shot.

Better, but I still think I can improve my technique.  

We'll be getting a lot of snow the next few days. I intend to try a few other shooting "tweaks" to see what I can get. 

Stay tuned....

Snoopervising duties finished, Tate now wants to go play in the powdery snow.

If you look closely, you can see where he dug into the snow when he first came outside to play.

We have no idea what he is digging for.   It is just too funny to watch him make the snow fly.

Bitsy came out too.  She always takes just one step into the snow, then holds up that paw like it is injured.
She stands there like that, giving us pitiful looks until we scoop her up and take her back inside.

What an actress she is.

She is so girlie-girl compared to Tate!

The Day The LOLcats Died

Not sure exactly where I stand on this situation, but I want/need to learn....
Here's good place to start.

Update: Proud to report Utah's Warren Hatch helped/is helping to get SOPA/PIPA stopped.

A really, really fast summary:

As a blogger, I have had folks take entire posts of mine and PUBLISH them in their online newsletters (Princeton University, I am looking straight at you right now...) without asking me or even crediting me.

Under SOPA/PIPA, the Princeton site would have been shut down.  NO warning.  Just like that, Princeton's site would cease to exist.  (Currently a warning is posted and the blogger can remove the offending content).

Also...if someone was to comment on your blog and quoted from someone else's blog, your blog would be shut down. 

If I decided I didn't like your blog, all I would have to do is leave a plagerized comment and KaZAM!  Your blog would be locked up, and no longer accessable.

Imagine what that would mean to business websites, to political websites.  Scullduggery would abound.
How would you like them apples?
I wouldn't. 

There are less draconian laws to address copyright infringment.

Gray Days; looking for Sun

Another gray January day was creating a decidedly gray-bordering on black- mood in me.
To help restore my outlook, Bernie to suggest we take a walk outside somewhere. 
"Somewhere" this time was in the heart of the city; Liberty Park to be exact.
After we slipped on down jackets and gloves, we began our walk. Barely three minutes into the walk we passed by the back of the Tracy Aviary. 
Seeing the bright yellow Sun Conures in their enclosure sure lifted my spirits fast.

Talk about a blast of color!  Don't you feel happier just looking at them?

Their keeper/feeder entered their enclosure as we looked on.
A chat with her informed us that:
There were 19 birds in the cage
The birds are counted twice a day
The bird's sex is determined via blood test
They haven't attempted to determine the sex the birds
And yes the birds are quite happy in their outside enclosure even when it snows.
Bird don't migrate to avoid the cold, the keeper told us.  Birds migrate in order to find food. 

How had that detail eluded me all these years?

As soon as she entered the enclosure the entire flock flew to her,  For a moment she looked as though she was wearing a yellow and orange coat. 
I sort of wished I was her.  Doesn't she look happy at her job?

We walked the length of Liberty Park and around to the other side of the aviary.  The distinctive pelican odor wafted about, but that was easily forgiven after watching the pelicans at play on the shore of their snowy white world.

As we completed our walk about and headed back to our car, we noticed another kind of bird in the tree just in front of where we had parked.

Seeing the bald eagle was kind of funny. 
We had earlier talked about going to the nearby Farmington Bay where the bald eagle population soars during the winter months.
Guess we saved ourself both time and gas money by just going to good old Liberty park in town instead.

I had decided against carrying my "good" camera as the day was so gloomy and all, but I had slipped my point and shoot Sony Cyber-shot HX-5V into my pocket before we began our walk. 
Like the rest of the birds we encounted, the little eagle was therefore suitably document in a jiffy.
Bernie made me laugh by pointing out the the little eagle had probably been asking for directions to Farmington Bay when he saw the scene at the foot of the tree he was perched in:

Why go to all the trouble of flying on the Farmington Bay when all these kinds of birds are at the ready?

And heck,  there are even some interesting looking orange and yellow birds just across the way too.

Just need to figure out how to get inside the citrus flavored bird's place to give them a try.

Pre-Dawntreaders

A little known secret at our house:  Before sunrise, our cat population appears to double.

Obviously there is nothing to be seen by looking outside into the dark.  But if a cat does chose to take a look, a mysterious cat duplication occurs.

Sometimes it appears that I have up to six cats with me at during my pre-sunrise breakfast.

This morning Frenchie was twinning by looking out the front window.  That is an important window to attend; neighborhood cats frequently pass by and stare inside before ambling on back to their own houses and their own food dishes.

This morning Hart has already reported to his cube tower in order to get an early start on his day's work load.

All four of our cats are employed by Bernie to  serve as his office Catministrators.

The Bossman was still upstairs asleep when I peeked in on the office staff.  Once the Bossman gets up, the other cats hang around until it is signaled that he heading in to the office.  Then they all do a stair-pool together.

A "stair-pool" is sort of like a car pool, except the commute is a walk downstairs instead of a drive somewhere. 

The three upstairs cats cluster around Bernie feet as closely as possible during their morning stairway commute in order to make it feel like a real commute.

Sometimes one of the cats will decide to "drive" themselves  to work, and they zig or zag inappropriately on the stairs causing a traffic jam to occur. 

Occasionally there is a crash or even a pile up if Bernie isn't mindful of flow of the morning cat traffic around him.

Once they arrive at the home office, each cat nestles into their particular office space, Bernie fires up his computer, checks in with his team in South Carolina via email, and their work day begins.

It is no secret that the cats consider their work space to also be a napping space.  They feel quite comfortable napping away about 80% of their work day. 

Bernie says a couple of them snore too...

Ever so often one of them will wake up and go off to visit the  litter and catch a snack in their break room.  When one is gone, it is not uncommon for another one to casually sneak over and take over their office space.

Bernie, as their Director, keeps tabs on this sort of underhanded office politics.  He is quick to re-settle the catministrator who  has overstepped a boundary.

Occasionally he is on a conference call and doesn't notice the subtle power play until suddenly a full on cat fight breaks out in the office.

Frankly I think it is hilarious that this sometimes happens when Bernie has his phone unmuted and the SC team gets to hear cats hissing and screaming at full throttle. 

The SC team was pretty shocked the first time it happened; now they pretty much know each cat's name and probably are rooting for their favorite cat to win the current brawl.

Sigh.

Such it is, and always will be, in every workplace, human or feline.

Somebody is always looking for a little more say and another way to make sure they get what they think they deserve.

Moonset, as seen on my sans cat commute to my job two days ago.

It is still predawn here.
Must get back to my pre-dawntreading tasks.
Must get myself prepared for another day of journeying to the edge of the world, and then on to Aslan country.

Since I can't have a cat with me at work, I wish Reepicheep was going with me instead.
Wouldn't that be grand?
Wouldn't it?

Napping room

Why is it that the folks who distain window views always get the window seats in offices and on planes? And why do they also presume to assume blind control over windows that are beyond their assigned space? (and no...glare isn't an issue here). Windows with closed blinds in the morning hours always makes me think of sickrooms and elderly people who fear strangers would be looking in with evil intent. I think my co-work has plotted as well. A sign is posted in that cube space instructing visitors that a noise cancelling headset is in use, and to please tap on a shoulder to initiate conversation. Let's see...closed blinds, and reason to be inattentive. I'd call that a perfect set up for creating an employer sponsored napping room. (For me a view out a window is like water and air to my soul. Why those who dislike windows get them, and those who like windows don't get them is part of what makes work space assignments so bewildering).

The Moon was at a Fiesta.

The moon in a crystal clear sky at night drew me outside to practice using my tripod.
The activity caused me to lose track of time.
My fingers however soon protested that it was below freezing outside.
  I couldn't manipulate all the equipment with mittens or gloves on my hands; of course one can't manipulate equipment with frozen fingers either.
In fact, it was the fact that I couldn't feel the shutter button that finally woke me up to the fact that I had better knock off taking moon shots for the night.

Maddeningly, an even better moon picture taunted me on the way to work yesterday.
The sky was still barely lit with the breaking dawn and the full moon hovered like a giant pink pearl above the dark blue and snow white rugged mountains to the west.
To the east the sun struggled to crest above Mt. Olympus.
It was simply magical seeing the pink moon retreating from the valley to hide from the approaching sun.

Did you know there was a children's book written about when the moon and the sun are both in the sky at dawn?

You see, the sun is supposed to reign during the day and the moon by night, but sometimes it happens that something really exciting happens at night, something exciting like a fiesta!

Sometimes the moon just can't bear to leave the fun before it is all over and when that happens, sometimes the moon is caught in the breaking light of dawn.

When that happens, the author said, the reason is quite obvious:

The Moon was at a Fiesta!

Isn't that a fun little story to tell?

The book "The Moon was at a Fiesta" is a wonderful story and the link above will allow you to take a peek at the book.

I was lucky enough to have the author come to visit the school library back when I was a school librarians (my all time favorite job!) and I got to hear author Matthew Gollub read his book in person!

 

About time!

(Above: Snowflakes on a car up in Mill Creek).

After the driest Utah December in recorded history we were quite excited to read that we were to get snow sometime during this Saturday's early morning hours. 

I peeked out the window at 5 am, saw a white winter wonderland and felt like Christmas morning had come at last.

Isn't that silly?

The night before I had mentioned to Bernie how happy and excited I was that there was to be snow; he felt the same way and we agreed that we hoped we would never outgrow this feeling about an expected snowfall.

As the dawn broke, I thought I was seeing fog outside.  After stepping outdoors, I realized the fog was actually the finest snowflakes creating a misty like look.

The perfect kind of snow fall for picture taking!
By the time I showered and shrugged into my powder suit, and Bernie had shoveled the driveway, the snow had switched to what we call "dump"; the flakes were now dime and nickle sized. 

Really messy for picture taking even with a rain sleeve over the camera for protection. I was catching big flakes in my eyes behind my glasses.

The camera was put away and we walked about a quarter mile up the canyon instead.  It was the most exercise I have had in a month!

I stopped frequently to stare at the beautiful star shaped flakes that landed on my mittens and sleeves.  

The drive back down the canyon where misty snow was mixing with the big flakes to create an otherworldly look.

Speaking of otherworlds...two naughty kitties were carefully monitoring the world outside our window for us.

The birds were monitoring the cats inside the window as they filled up at the feeder.

I like this photo of a junco a lot...

What to do for lunch after a walk outside on a snowy Saturday?

Fondue by the fireside of course!



The last time we supped on fondue was a few years back on our last day up in the mountains of Switzerland, during a late May snowstorm.

Good memories.

Just the thing on a January afternoon.
Funny thing is: the fondue pot was my mom's and I recall eating fondue from it as a kid. 

After I married, she passed it on to me, and I had a few fondue parties with other couples back when our kids were not yet school age.
We've hauled that pot through multiple moves, each time pondering if we should bother to keep it.
Each time we remembered how good fondue tasted and some how found space for it.

Funnier still:  I am pretty sure this is the same kind of prepackaged fondue that my mom used to use when she served fondue.
What could be easier than snipping open the foil pouch, slipping out the cheese mix, heating it up on the stovetop and then digging in with some bread?

Why don't we indulge in this treat more often?
Well...for one, the calories and for two, cleaning the stuck on cheese out of the pot is always a bear!